Black Killer Whale Baby - Chapter 327

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story: Episode 52
‘What is that…?’
Bruises with greenish and yellowish hues marked the child’s pale skin. These weren’t made overnight.
And there wasn’t just one.
Traces of prolonged violence.
I knew because I’d experienced it myself.
This was what happened when someone persistently tormented another.
‘From the way those two are talking, they seem intimate with each other.’
But intimacy didn’t preclude violence. My own mother had smiled at me tenderly, as if cherishing her child, only to beat me that very evening.
Considering the child’s age, and that he was a retainer, the one who left these marks was….
Sehera Zade’s gaze turned toward Pierre—the boy who, like me, had lost all anger and fighting spirit, responding to the child with casual indifference.
“…Young Master, you are this child’s owner, correct?”
“So?”
A look of intense disgust flashed across Sehera Zade’s eyes—sharp enough to make Pierre pause momentarily.
“Right now….”
From the way his speech was still halting, he clearly wasn’t even nine years old yet. His small frame proved it.
I couldn’t understand why he would deliberately keep such a young child as a retainer. And abuse, no less.
‘…No matter how much the strong preying on the weak is considered natural. This place is insane.’
Was it because she was half-breed? Sehera Zade had felt disgust and revulsion toward the Orca clan’s rules since early childhood.
Finding similar marks on the child’s legs, Sehera Zade’s eyes grew even colder.
“…Wow, that’s really bad.”
Sehera Zade muttered quietly. The problem was that the boy with heightened senses heard it perfectly well.
“Young Master, do you hit such a young child?”
A thin stream of water extending from Sehera Zade flowed between Rayla and Pierre, wavering protectively around the child.
“Outside, people call someone like that a bad person not worth associating with.”
“Ah… No! The Young Master didn’t hit me!”
“It’s okay. You can tell me the truth.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
Rayla flailed her arms like a fluttering fish, earnestly protesting. Sehera Zade nodded.
‘How could a child speak the truth in front of his master?’
Her eyes darkened further.
What happened to illegitimate children like herself or powerless young ones was no different in other branch families.
Meanwhile, Pierre realized Sehera Zade’s misunderstanding and felt wronged, but on the other hand, he thought to himself.
Why should I even bother clearing up her misunderstanding?
And wasn’t Rayla explaining things well enough?
It was the arrogance of a spoiled child.
As Pierre kept his mouth shut, Sehera Zade let out a small sigh.
“…I understand.”
The girl said this with a face that clearly didn’t believe him. Then she set her expression seriously.
“I’m truly sorry, but since things seem to have calmed down, I’d like to continue what we were discussing earlier. Would you let me stay here?”
“Are you still on about that? I refuse.”
“Yes, thank you. I won’t live long anyway. Probably….”
“Get out.”
Sehera Zade didn’t resist this time and answered respectfully instead.
“But even if I’m driven out or leave like this, I’ll come back here again. And when I do, the Matriarch will come with me.”
This was what Sehera Zade had wanted to say. It would have been better if she’d spoken more calmly.
‘Why did I do that….’
Thinking it over carefully, it seemed strange.
For some reason, the young boy before me had something in his very demeanor that provoked me.
“The Matriarch used to call it that—a home visit.”
Was that expression correct? Sehera Zade thought so herself, and it seemed the boy shared a similar thought.
Or was it anger?
The boy’s expression twisted. Even twisted, it was beautiful.
“I apologize for being so brazen and coming out like this. Since I was forcibly dragged here by my mother…. I shouldn’t have done that, but I dared to vent my frustrations. I was far too presumptuous and rude.”
The young girl grasped her torn skirt and bowed deeply. The boy remained silent for a while.
A pleasant, clear voice muttered a curse. Sehera Zade didn’t know the boy well, but she could understand this much.
…This was acceptance?
* * *
The peaceful royal palace of Aquasiadel.
In the king’s study sat Calypso, lost in melancholy.
To her right was a visitor one rarely saw.
Sehera Zade, and her mother—more familiar to Calypso by the name ‘Sizer’.
“For you to suggest we talk, something must be unusual?”
The hand holding the teacup moved with considerable elegance. Though she herself seemed to move carelessly. Some education becomes etched into the body and doesn’t fade even after decades. The etiquette she’d learned from her mother was like that.
“Indeed, it’s been such a long time since we’ve all gathered like this. Or is this the first time?”
“It must be. Someone’s always been missing each time.”
And to Calypso’s left were her three brothers—Bellus, Atlant, and Agenor.
When Agenor and Atlant each spoke, Bellus opened his mouth as well.
“This is the first time Father has been absent from such a gathering.”
At Eldest Brother’s words, everyone except Mother gave tacit agreement.
“Well, there’s no grand reason for gathering everyone. I was feeling down and called you all here, so I wanted to ask about something.”
My daughter abandoned her mother and ran away from home. And apparently it’s because of Mother’s remarriage.
Mother doesn’t know what to do or how to handle it.
For now, Father assured me he’d take good care of Cali, so there’s nothing to worry about.
‘My daughter being monopolized by Father alone.’
Calypso called for her mother with half apology and the other half out of spite.
Normally they’re always playing an endless game of tag, so such gatherings are difficult to arrange.
And while she had the chance, Calypso asked something she’d been curious about for a long time but had deliberately never asked.
“Why is your relationship with Father like that?”
Sehera Zade stared at Calypso. In fact, she had been quite shocked when she first saw her daughter.
I didn’t know, having left right after birth. But my daughter, whom I’d reunited with, looked far too identical to how I appeared in my childhood.
Round eyes that didn’t look like those of an Orca at all, or a gentle beauty—knowing my own face so well, I was accustomed to wearing fierce expressions.
So I anticipated that the trials my child would face as she grew would be no different from those I’d endured.
“Until now, I haven’t paid much attention to the two of you playing tag since your reunion. I didn’t think it was something to forcibly question.”
“….”
“…Truth be told, I never expected this to go on for years. So why don’t you tell me the story now?”
That expression—not particularly curious but slightly sullen—was my own childhood self, the one who’d unleash fierce momentum whenever things didn’t go my way.
Yes, it reminded me of myself from back when I first met my husband Pierre, when he was still a prince.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“For one thing, I keep coming here partly to see you two as well.”
Sehera Zade laughed and shrugged her shoulders. A refreshing smile. A somewhat sly attitude.
Calypso crossed her arms. As if ready to listen.
“If I have the leisure, it’s not difficult.”
Sehera Zade began unfolding a long story. For some reason, Calypso thought she’d asked the question carelessly, sensing it would be lengthy.
But then.
“I beat up your father.”
“…Pardon?”
The beginning of the story was unusual. Moreover, unlike the assumption that since her mother and father had a political marriage, they would have met as adults.
It was a very old story.
Father in his boyhood….
Calypso naturally glanced at Bellus and Agenor. Both were sons who resembled their father’s appearance.
Moreover, her mother beat up their father, who must have been strong even in childhood?
Since she’d been her teacher, Calypso knew her mother was also an extraordinary skilled practitioner.
Before long, Calypso leaned forward, lifting her upper body. She couldn’t hide her interest.
“…So, Mother, you didn’t just beat Father once, did you?”
“If you call me Mother, I’ll tell you more.”
“Mother, Mother. Mother.”
“….”
Sehera Zade’s laughter deepened.
Even Bellus, who’d roughly guessed the reason the two had parted and why her mother had disappeared, wore a surprised expression.
Sehera Zade continued speaking, feeling a long-missed sense of delight.
“Well, the most memorable incident while living in your father’s residence would be… the day we had a brawl together.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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